Russia Arrests Alleged Mastermind of RBS WorldPay Hack

“Russian authorities have nabbed a man allegedly responsible for masterminding a coordinated global ATM heist that stole $9.5 million from Atlanta-based card processing company RBS WorldPay.

Viktor Pleshchuk, 28, of St. Petersburg, was arrested by the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB, according to the Sunday Mail in the United Kingdom, which broke the story last week.

The Financial Times confirmed the arrest this week, adding that Pleshchuk was among ‘several suspects’ arrested. The paper didn’t name the other suspects or say when any of them were arrested. The arrests are being touted by some as signaling a new era of cooperation between Russian and U.S. authorities.

Pleshchuk was indicted in the United States last November with Sergei Tsurikov, 25, of Tallinn, Estonia; Oleg Covelin, 28, of Chisinau, Moldova; and a fourth person identified only as ‘Hacker 3.’ The government described the caper as ‘perhaps the most sophisticated and organized computer fraud attack ever conducted.’”